Kobe Bryant’s admission that his right knee contains cartilage so damaged that “it’s almost bone-on-bone” was no surprise to the Lakers, who have known for several seasons that their veteran guard needs extra days to recover from the daily grind.

Bryant also isn’t the first veteran player who has skipped practices with the blessing of coach Phil Jackson over the years with the Lakers or the Chicago Bulls during the 1990s. Bryant, 32, and Derek Fisher, 36, routinely do not practice.

John Paxson and Bill Cartwright did not practice with the Bulls for an entire season because of patellar tendinitis, according to Jackson.

Ron Harper, with the Bulls and the Lakers, also was given permission to skip workouts because of health concerns.

Jackson said the Lakers have monitored Bryant’s knee for some time, dating to well before last spring’s flare-up that resulted in fluid being drained from it during a first-round playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

In fact, Jackson recalled meeting with Bryant more than three years ago to discuss cutting back on his practice time in order to avoid wearing him out during the 82-game regular-season slog.

Jackson recalled: “I said, `The issue about getting older is containing your leg strength and your ability to play due to it. You’re going to have issues. Some practices are going to have to be monitored and you and I are going to have to reach a point of agreement on this. I’m going to give you the liberty of picking and choosing when you want to practice and how you want to practice, so that we can do this the right way.”‘

The subject was raised before the Lakers faced the New Orleans Hornets on Friday because of a column in the NewYork Post in which Bryant revealed the extent of his knee troubles. He had declined to talk specifics when asked by local reporters.

Additionally, Bryant has resumed practicing with his teammates recently after skipping significant portions of the Lakers’ workouts earlier in the season to rest his knee. He underwent surgery to mend damaged cartilage during the offseason.

“He manages it very well,” Jackson said. “That’s important. He has the ability to do that. It’s been an issue since last year. We monitored it through the playoffs. Surprisingly, we came out on top and he was able to make adjustments.”

Takes one to know one

Jackson rather famously called Vladimir Radmanovic a “space cadet,” and not only because he practiced in a pair of Vans sneakers on the day before the Lakers traded him to the Charlotte Bobcats two years ago.

Radmanovic, now with the Golden State Warriors, fired back at Jackson at long last in an interview earlier this week with the San Francisco Chronicle.

“I have a lot of respect for Coach Phil, but I think he’s kind of a space cadet of his own,” said Radmanovic, who toiled with the Lakers for 2 1/2 seasons. “He’s the guy who has won 11 titles, so whatever he says, people will take as fact.

Elliott Teaford covers the Anaheim Ducks for the Orange County Register and the Southern California News Group. He covered the Ducks for 12 years, including the Stanley Cup season, for the Los Angeles Times and the Daily Breeze before returning to the beat in 2018 for SCNG. He also covered the Lakers for five seasons, including their back-to-back NBA championships in 2009 and '10. He once made a jump shot over future Utah Jazz center Mark Eaton during a pickup game in 1980 at Cypress College.